Kovalainen upbeat despite no pole

The McLaren driver was strong all day, overshadowing teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was unable to make it into the final shootout.

Kovalainen finished less than a tenth behind pole-setter Sebastian Vettel, and the Finn was left optimistic he can have a good race tomorrow.

"It was very close with Sebastian and I just missed the beginning of the session," Kovalainen said. "My first lap not so good and it rained at the end. On the last lap I tried to have another go but the grip level was fading away.

"Anyway, it's a good position for the race. The car has felt good in all conditions today, in the dry yesterday was strong and in the test here was strong, so we can look forward to a strong race tomorrow."

Kovalainen admitted he was unsure about Hamilton's problems, but he reckons the Briton will still have a strong outing on Sunday.

"I don't know what was going on with Lewis and his engineers. With my crew we stayed on the same set of tyres in the first part of qualifying. Lewis thought it would be dry enough for inters and it just started to rain as he went.

"Unlucky for him but I am sure he will do a great race tomorrow."